Clan War
by Karama9
Summary: A Storm Shadow story, set in his youth. The Arashikage is at war with another clan, and the compound is invaded. You can probably guess that this story contains violence. Third and final part now up.
1. Chapter 1

This three part story was originally bonus material for Arashikage, but it takes place well before it (Tommy would have been 14 or so in this story), so I don't expect anyone will have any trouble following who hasn't read Arashikage. You can thank those of my regular reviewers who gave me their blessings to post the bonuses for this one. :)

Sorry for the shortness... bonuses had to fit in PMs.

I don't own GI Joe, I'm just a Storm Shadow fangirl.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Hard Master," Tommy said, "but I can't help it. It smells."

The Hard Master sighed. He was trying to teach a technique called the blind swordsman to his nephew, to use when for whatever reason, the only sense you can rely on is touch. Truth be told, it was more for the sake of developing the teenager's sense of touch than for any actual practical use. That objective wasn't likely to be reached, however, when Tommy could detect through his nose the dummy he was supposed to feel for with his sheath. He couldn't deny his nephew was right – the thing did have a distinctive scent – but he hadn't known until this moment that the Seeing Master had trained Tommy to locate objects by smell.

"All right, take off the blindfold and go get a nose pincher," he said. "Hurry up. You know I hate wasting time."

"Yes, Hard Master." Tommy took off the blindfold, gave a quick bow and sprinted off towards the Hard Master's dojo, which was always the most likely spot to find anything related to sensory techniques.

He stopped running and looked to the East Wall at the same time as the Hard Master's head snapped in the same direction. A large group of people could be heard climbing the other side of it.

"Akai," the Hard Master muttered. Tommy's eyes went wide.

"Everyone! We're under attack! To your posts, NOW! " The Hard Master bellowed. "And Tommy," he continued in a softer, if urgent, voice. "stay calm."

Tommy switched directions, heading for the rafters like all the other students, screaming back the instruction as he went for the benefit of anyone who might not have heard the Hard Master. The Hard Master ran towards the living quarters to wake up anyone who might be sleeping – it was the middle of the day, but some of the wage earners had been out the previous night. He was yelling his instructions over and over again as well, imitated by anyone who took off running in opposite directions.

Meanwhile, the Akai ninjas were already jumping over the wall and attacking anyone they could find. Despite the barely advanced warning, they had the advantage of surprise and cut off several groups from going to wherever they were supposed to.

Tommy heard the battles erupting everywhere as he ran towards the rafters. He cursed under his breath as he went, hardly believing what was happening, praying every spirit he could think of that none of his family would be killed by the attackers and dearly wishing he hadn't been ordered to go with the other kids: he loved the bow and he was a great archer, but he hated the idea of hiding away like a helpless child, taking a few pot shots at the enemy if he happened to get a clear shot, while everyone else was in the middle of the battle, risking their lives and doing a lot more damage to the Akai. He wanted in on it, he wanted to make them pay for attacking them like this, in their home.

As much as he hated it, however, he had his instructions straight from the Hard Master, and disobeying was simply unthinkable. On the other hand, it really wasn't his fault that there happened to be a battle right in the most direct path to his post. He had been told to go there right away, so really, it was only natural to take the shortest route, even if it happened to go through a few Akai ninjas.

He unsheathed his sword as he ran, resisting the urge to scream a battle cry and running without a sound instead because for everyone's safety, he needed to take out as many Akai as possible as fast as possible: fair play, right now, was simply not practical.

He went straight for a pair that had their backs to him and cut them both down before the only one who had him in his line of sight alerted the rest of the group to his presence. Almost instantly, he went from being a surprise outside attacker to just one of the 5 Arashikage trying to fight off a dozen of Akai.

"Idiot!" One of the other four hissed at him between hits – his swords teacher. "What was the point of that? You were supposed to go to your post!"

"Sorry, Sensei. You guys were in the way," Tommy replied, pulling his sword back out from one of the Akai ninja while rolling to avoid a strike aimed at his neck.

A roll, he realized a split second too late, that was taking him straight into another enemy.

He sprawled when he tried to stop, and his opponent's blade flashed in the sun, sinking into the spot where he'd still be if not for a rough shove by one of the other Arashikage who just managed to get him out of harm's way. He got back to his feet just in time to avoid another strike but before he could do anything else, he found himself lifted off the ground in a carry.

"Father!" He screamed. "NO! We have to help them!"

"Calm down, I intend to. I wasn't running here JUST to get you out of trouble," his father said, dragging him away. He stopped around the corner of a dojo from the battle they had just left and put him on the ground, but didn't let go of his arm.

"You are to go to your post right away, Arashikage Tomisaburo, and you will not join in any more battles. I will go help, because unlike you, I can take care of myself." He let go of his arm then and took off back towards the battle, not bothering to check whether his son was obeying his instructions, well aware there was no need. Tommy was a stubborn hot-head, much like himself, but he was too bloody honourable to disobey a direct order: he was an expert at finding loopholes, but if there weren't any, he could be relied on to do what he was told, whether he liked it or not.

Tommy scowled at his father's back but took off again, heading for the rafters, thinking he hadn't been told to STAY there, only to GO there.

"AND STAY THERE!" His father bellowed from behind him.

Tommy cursed under his breath as he ran, dodging the battles, thinking he should have known the old man would think of it: there was just no getting away with anything when he was around, he knew all the tricks.


	2. Chapter 2

Tommy didn't even smile when his arrow went right through the heart of the Akai ninja who had been about to strike at his shuriken teacher. It was only the fourth shot he'd been able to take, and he'd watch 20 students, 9 teachers and 8 staff members die at the hands of the Akai while he was poked up here, unable to shoot the invaders because his own clan kept getting in the way.

Thirty-seven, 5 of them younger than he was himself and just trying to make their way to safety. Nine teachers, seven of which had been teaching him part-time since the Seeing Master had left, cut to pieces while trying to prevent their students from being harmed – only for their students to suffer the same fate.

Thirty-seven of his family, dead. Killed right in front of him. He snarled, looking for another shot, thirsty for blood and dearly wishing he could go collect it up close. He felt viciously jealous of his father, who was a whirlwind of blades down there, right in the thick of it, with blood spraying everywhere he went. His uncles and his aunt were there too, moving - like his father - almost too fast to follow and doing just as much damage to the invaders.

"Are you shooting or what? You've got tons of arrows left!" The boy next to him asked in a harsh whisper.

Tommy clenched his teeth to prevent himself from screaming at his younger brother and giving away their position. The implied accusation of not doing his best was beyond insulting. He glanced at the younger boy's quiver and, noting that HE was out of arrows, concluded he had been told to provide cover fire.

"Unlike you," Tommy said through his teeth, "I can actually AIM, so I've been told to snipe, not to provide cover fire. Here," he added, handing the boy his own quiver. "I'll go get some more."

He put down his bow and took off.

"Wait!" The other boy called out urgently, in a whisper. "You can't…"

Tommy ignored him, not about to relinquish the excuse to get off the roof and get back to ground level, where he just might run into a few Akai. He was about halfway to the armoury when he heard fighting noises coming from it. He started running harder: the smith and his family weren't warriors, and Tommy was all too happy to help by disposing of the enemy ninjas. The thought they might overpower him never crossed his mind.

He was almost there, no more than three strides from the door, when he heard the smith's eight year old daughter screaming in pain and terror. His eyes widened, but the scream died as abruptly as it had started, replaced by a howl from her father. He listened out for her even as he made the last stride to the door, taking out his swords, but he couldn't hear her. He could easily hear the Smith screaming in anguish, and the hearts and breathing of five more people he didn't recognize, but not the Smith's daughter, nor his wife.

He crashed through the door screaming.

* * *

The Arashikage's weapon maker and blacksmith instinctively clutched the body of his only child tighter in an attempt to protect her from the figure that came crashing through the door before he recognized the teenager: Tommy, the nephew of the two Masters.

He didn't have time to wonder what the boy was doing here instead of hiding safely somewhere: the Akai had been just as surprised as he had and three were already down.

The Smith closed his eyes and held on tighter to his child, unwilling to see the end, when one of the two remaining enemy ninja got behind Tommy and made a wide swipe with his sword, aimed at the kid's neck. He opened his eyes again when he heard Tommy yelp in pain: decapitated teens did not scream.

The Akai that had been behind him had been cut in two at the waist, and Tommy, on the floor with a bloody nose, threw his sword at the last enemy, following it by a shuriken hidden behind it. The Akai caught the sword but missed the throwing star, which embedded itself between his eyes. He crumbled, as lifeless as his four companions.

The Smith's eyes trailed to the five murderers. He was still clutching his daughter's lifeless body, and avoiding the eyes of his 'rescuer', who had arrived too late to really do any good.

"I'm sorry," Tommy said, kneeling next to him, brushing Amaya's arm with his knuckles. "I…" He swallowed and trailed off.

"What are you doing here?" The Smith asked. "Shouldn't you be hiding with the other kids? They told US to hide, too, but the Akai were already everywhere. I thought the safest thing to do was to hide here. I thought…" His voice broke and he buried his head into his daughter's hair.

"We were running out of arrows, I came to get more," Tommy whispered, his eyes still attached to the prone form of the small girl who had been no more of a threat to the Akai than the rocks in the garden.

He shook his head and got back up, walking to the stock of arrows and taking a few packs.

"I'm not sure where you'll be safer," he said. "You can come with me if you…"

"I'm not leaving her, and I'd slow you down too much carrying her."

"I can carry her."

"Don't be stupid, you need your arms free. Go. I'm just as likely to be safe here as anywhere else."

Tommy swallowed again, nodded and took off back towards his post.


	3. Chapter 3

The Hard Master took his sword out of his opponent and stood still as the lifeless body of the last Akai invader collapsed to the ground, joining dozens of others. He inhaled deeply, made himself straighten up, wiped his blade on his own pants and sheathed it.

He heard the Soft Master a few steps to his left and turned that way, ignoring all the others. He needed advice. He bit his lips: his brothers were by their sister's body, cradling her. Most of the clan members were doing much the same thing with the various victims. He listened for Kimiko, his sister's daughter, and found her crying, cradled in Tommy's lap, who was clutching her as though he thought she might fall dead herself any second. There were so many of their clan who had died today, 96 by the last count he'd received, that he could hardly blame the boy.

"Soft Master, a word," he called softly.

The Soft Master turned to him but did not quite lock eyes and did not get up.

"You know what we need to do," he said. "They've sealed their fate."

"This was the decision of one man," the Hard Master sighed.

His other brother rolled his eyes at him.

"Fine. HE sealed their fate."

The Hard Master nodded. It was all the confirmation his impetuous brother needed: he dashed off, heading for the exit closest to the way to the Akai compound, followed by just about all the surviving teachers and wage earners capable of doing so.

He grabbed Tommy just as he was zipping by. Thankfully, his brother's son was the only child silly enough to even think he might be allowed to go.

"Don't be foolish. You're not going."

Tommy glared at him and actually tried to break free. The Hard Master's eyes widened. The Soft Master appeared and helped subdue the teenager, more to avoid the Hard Master having to hurt him than because his brother needed help to prevent the teen from escaping.

"Tomisaburo, stop. We will not let you go along."

"Let me go!" Tommy growled. "Everyone… Tsuhiro-Sensei… Oba-san… Amaya-chan…! LET ME GO! LET ME…!"

He stopped and collapsed under a pinch by the Hard Master.

* * *

By the time Tommy woke up, his father was by his side.

"You tried to follow," his father stated.

Tommy sat up, holding his knees to his chest, and nodded, his lips curled in a snarl.

"I wanted to go. This isn't fair. I could have defended myself. I could have helped. I…"

"Do you even know what we did?"

Tommy nodded firmly.

"Same as last time, with the Kamura. You went to kill the Master and disband the clan."

"The Kamura tried to STEAL from us and besides, they're already regrouping, less than a year later."

Tommy cocked his head.

"So what did you do?" He asked.

"The Akai is no more," his father answered. "We didn't kill the infants we found – we brought them to a nearby temple – but we left no other survivor. Including the families, including the staff, including the staff's families, including all the children old enough to walk and maybe remember, because otherwise, they may have grown up to seek vengeance. What the Akai tried to do here, we did there. Their home sits empty."

Tommy paled a bit.

"Can you understand why?"

Tommy lowered his eyes: he could. Anything less would have invited the survivors or even other clans to attack them again. They had to show that attacking them was a fatal mistake. He nodded.

"Do you also understand why you weren't allowed to come?"

Tommy nodded again. It was a dirty job, one that pushed the limits of what's honourable and what isn't, and in all honesty, he was rather glad it hadn't been HIS job. He could understand the necessity of it, but it was too close to what the Akai had done by attacking them for comfort.

"If it's normal to do that for self defence, why didn't we do it BEFORE they attacked us?" He asked.

His father scowled.

"Seems like a bad decision in hindsight, doesn't it? We didn't because we didn't think they would attack us: we knew they wouldn't win if they did, and we thought they knew as well. We were negotiating a truce with them hours before the attack, and we thought we were making progress. Your uncle blames himself for what happened… he's devastated. If he wasn't so level-headed, I'd pity the next clan who so much as looks at us funny."

"Maybe they thought we were about to attack them. Maybe it was self-defence for them too."

His father snorted disdainfully.

"I don't care why they did it," he said. "Whatever their motives were, they identified themselves as a threat and if we hadn't dealt with it, they would have stayed a threat AND made us look vulnerable to the other clans. Our family is what's important to me, not strangers from unfriendly clans and whatever their fears and hopes may be. Sort out your priorities, Tommy, and when things aren't clear, go back to those priorities."

He got up and left before Tommy could answer, preferring to let him think it through by himself.

Fin


End file.
